Reactions of neodymium(ii), dysprosium(ii), and thulium(ii) diiodides with cyclopentadiene. Molecular structures of complexes CpTmI2(THF)3 and [NdI2(THF)5]+[NdI4(THF)2]–

The reactions of LnI2 (Ln = Nd (1) or Dy (2)) with cyclopentadiene (CpH) in THF at 0 °C afforded the CpLnI2(THF)3 complexes in 65—67% yields. The reaction of thulium diiodide (3) with an excess of CpH at 60 °C produced CpTmI2(THF)3, Cp2TmI(THF)2, and TmI3(THF)3 in 21, 58, and 63% yields, respectively. The reactions of 1 and 2 with pentamethylcyclopentadiene (Cp*H) in THF were accompanied by disproportionation giving rise to the Cp*2LnI(THF)2 and LnI3(THF)x complexes. Neodymium triiodide was isolated in the ionic form [NdI2(THF)5]+[NdI4(THF)2]–. Its structure and the structure of CpTmI2(THF)3 were established by X-ray diffraction analysis.